Mark in the News

1/23/2019 by Jim Clark, The Somerville Times

“At the latest regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen, Niedergang – along with order co-sponsor Ward 6 Alderman Lance Davis – called for the Executive Director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development (Transportation and Infrastructure) report to the Board in writing no later than February 4 about physical traffic calming measures, and other traffic calming measures, to be deployed in the Ball Square neighborhood to slow the speed of cut-through traffic before the Ball Square Broadway Bridge closes, currently scheduled by the GLX Team for around March 1.”

“... Mark chairs the Board of Aldermen (BOA) Traffic and Parking Committee. (Mark also represents the BOA on the City’s Traffic Commission, a little-known five-member Board that makes many of the important decisions about specific traffic and parking details in Somerville.) Mark has tried to focus on not just the very long laundry list of traffic problems, but on the big picture challenges, like staffing and infrastructure investment, that affect how much progress we can make.”

5/28/2017 by Katheleen Conti, The Boston Globe

“Somerville is hot in every neighborhood. It’s affecting the poorest parts of the city; there’s been huge increases in rent over the past couple of years, and it doesn’t look like there’s an end in sight,” Alderman Mark Niedergang said. “I know a lot of people who’ve been hurt by this. People are being illegally evicted and three months later their building went before the board and now they’re high-end condos.”

... Niedergang said the aldermen are working on a new version of the ordinance in case the legal challenge to it is successful. For example, he wants to update how much displaced tenants would receive from the amounts that were set in 1985, which is now $300 or one month’s rent, whichever is higher.

... “From my perspective, the heart of the law is the part that allows us to regulate two- and three-families, and that’s where most of the conversions are taking place and the worst of the evictions,” he said. “That’s what’s happening here; it’s gentrification.”

4/19/2017 by Jim Clark, The Somerville Times

... The order sponsor, Ward 5 Alderman Mark Niedergang, told those in attendance at the meeting, “What I’m really looking for here is data that would inform the discussions I think all of us ward aldermen have about development projects – and those Aldermen At-Large who are also involved – around parking issues in proposed new developments.”

In the view of the vast majority of Somerville residents, the danger we face is that in 10 or 20 years, only rich people will be able to live here — unless we take bold action now. A 20 percent inclusionary affordable housing requirement is strong medicine, but we are battling to preserve the heart and soul of our community.

May 6, 2016 by Reena Karasin, Scout Somerville

... This influx of students into West Somerville has caused significant problems, according to Ward 5 Alderman Mark Niedergang, whose ward includes some of the neighborhoods bordering Tufts.

“Tufts is a big issue in the city,” he said, noting many students’ “bad behavior” and pattern of driving up rents.

... Many students have also found ways around the University Accountability Ordinance.

“I know that it’s violated widely,” Niedergang said of the rule.

... Niedergang explained that Tufts students living off campus have already contributed to making West Somerville the most expensive place to live in the city.

“The city’s been trying to get Tufts to build more dorms for years, and basically Tufts has refused,” Niedergang said. “They don’t want to build dorms and therefore there’s a lot of pressure on rental and housing prices in West Somerville. I tell Tufts administrators all the time that they should build new housing when I run into them, and the mayor has also had very frank conversations with [Tufts] president [Anthony] Monaco. I’ve been told by administrators that it’s not one of the priorities.”

... Niedergang is currently pushing a citizens’ petition that would require 20 percent of the units in all new housing containing at least six units to be affordable.

“Lots of people are saying this shouldn’t be considered in isolation. My own opinion is we can’t wait. It could take years for [the zoning overhaul],” Niedergang said.

Jan 27, 2016 by Danielle McClean, The Somerville Journal

Ward 5 Alderman Mark Niedergang, who attended the meeting, told the Journal he would be open to the idea of adding exemptions in the laws allowing permitted co-op or elderly housing situations with more than four people, with possible parking restrictions. But he said he would not want to get rid of the law altogether. ... click to read more

Nov 18, 2015 by Emily Hopkins, Scout Somerville

“I think what’s happened in the last generation or so is that even more surface [has been] covered over by concrete,” says Ward 5 Alderman Mark Niedergang, citing the combination of increased development and lax regulations as a factor.

“We have the opportunity to get funding from developers for this. These folks are going to be coming in here, and they’ll be building stuff that people will use and enjoy, but they’ll also be making a ton of money. And so they need to do their fair share to help us out with this problem,” he says.

“We need that money. We don’t have $5 billion to redo the sewer system. If this doesn’t get planned out and prepared for, all of a sudden you’re up a creek without a paddle.”

After careful consideration of each candidate’s responses, the SMEA proudly announces its political endorsements for the 2015 fall elections as follows... Mark Niedergang (Ward 5)... click to read more

Mar 16, 2015 by Emily Hopkins, Scout Somerville

“It’s like peeling back the layers of an onion,” Niedergang said in an email to constituents. “I’m still learning about what’s in the current draft.”

Niedergang will host a community meeting Ward 5 tonight to discuss his concerns with the zoning overhaul and to hear thoughts from neighbors. Among other concerns, he’s worried that there’s not enough open green space required and that the affordable housing quota is too low. He also worries that the new public process may reduce the influence of community members on large projects.

Jan 28, 2015 by Mark Niedergang, Peter St. Clair and Patricia Wild, The Somerville Times

... We support divestment for two reasons: (1) We believe that our children’s and the City’s future is in peril if humankind does not drastically reduce our use of fossil fuels; and (2) we want to protect our retirement and our pensions. We believe that fossil fuel companies are poor investments... click to read more

... The answers cannot come from elected officials and city staff alone—they must come from the community. If you have a perspective to lend, an idea to pursue, share your thinking with us. Apply to serve on the Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group. We will also need your support as we seek changes that are likely to evoke organized opposition... click to read more

Jan 20, 2016 by Josie Grove, The Somerville Times

The City Solicitor’s office is being urged to review the process whereby developers are granted permits for condominium conversions. The Housing and Community Development Committee of the Board of Aldermen will be taking on the issue of condominium conversions, after Ward 5 Alderman Mark Niedergang attended the December 11 meeting of the Condominium Review Board and found the proceedings troubling. ... click to read more

Jan 20, 2016 by Jake Taber, The Tufts Daily

The MBTA’s proposed Green Line Extension project (GLX), which would string light rail from a rebuilt Lechmere station up through six new stops in Cambridge, Somerville, and Medford – terminating at Tufts, at a stop behind Dowling hall – is still being reconsidered in the wake of estimates that projected cost overruns of up to $1 billion. ... click to read more

Dec 31, 2015 by Danielle McLean, The Somerville Journal

Dec 3, 2015 by Nicholas Pfosi, The Tufts Daily

The company from which Tufts contracts its custodial services, DTZ, formerly UGL Unicco, has had a business relationship with the university since 2011. While custodians, union representatives and students demanded that the university make no cuts to the janitorial staff, members of the administration defended the decision to reallocate custodial labor and said that the terms of the reorganization were to be determined by DTZ alone. ... click to read more

Sep 1, 2015 by Danielle McLean, The Somerville Journal

Mayor Joe Curtatone said he would not rule out sacrificing community benefits during the billion-dollar renewal of Union Square if the project's master developer US2 helps cover possible cost increases of nearly $1 billion to complete the Green Line extension. ... click to read more

Aug 28, 2015 by Danielle McLean, The Somerville Journal

As aldermen continue drafting a city law that would ban businesses from providing customers plastic shopping bags at the checkout line, a bill making its way through Beacon Hill could put the brakes on such a measure. ... click to read more